Textile drafting system

ABSTRACT

A TEXTILE SYSTEM FOR DEBONING, COMBING AND/OR DRAFTING A WEB OF CUT FIBERS INTO A HOMOGENEOUS SILVER, THE SILVER HAVING THE CUT FIBERS RANDOMIZED AND PARALLEL WITH LITTLE OR NO TURNBACKS WHEREBY THE SLIVER MAY BE QUICKLY COILED OR UTILIZED IN A SUBSEQUENT TEXTILE OPERATION. THE TEXTILE SYSTEM COMPRISES AN IN-LINE APPARATUS INCLUDING A PIN OR GILL DRAFTING MEANS FOR PERFORMING A GILLING OPERATION TO DEBOND THE CUT OR FRACTURE TOW, STRAIGHTEN THE TURN BACK FIBERS, AND RANDOMIZE THE SAME WHILE ALSO PERFORMING A DRAFTING OPERATION, AND AN APRON DRAFTING MEANS FOR FURTHER DRAFTING THE FIBERS AND STRAIGHTENING THE FIBERS AS THEY ARE REMOVED FROM THE GILLING OPERATION. THE APRON DRAFTING MEANS CONTROLS THE FIBERS IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE FIBERS MAY BE DRAFTED AT A HIGHER DRAFT THAN THE DRAFTING AT THE PIN OR GIL DRAFTING MEANS WITH THE FIBERS BEING CAPABLE OF BEING DRAWN FROM THE APRON DRAFTING MEANS WITH PRESSURE ON SUBSTANTIALLY THEIR ENTIRE LENGTH AND WITHOUT BREAKING OF THE FIBERS.

Oct. 5, 1971 E, F MORRlSON E TAL 3,609,836

TEXTILE DRAFTING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 18, 1969 I IVENTORS Ai/.SO/V

ATTORNEYS @WMM Y 0 ,J w M0 .F

United States Patent ice Filed `Iuly 18, 1969, Ser. No. 842,865 Int. Cl. D01g 1/12 U.S. Cl. 28-1.6 7 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A textile system for debonding, combing and/or drafting a web of cut bers into a homogeneous sliver, the sliver having the cut fibers randomized and parallel with little or no turnbacks whereby the sliver may be quickly coiled or utilized in a subsequent textile operation. The textile system comprises an in-line apparatus including a pin or gill drafting means for performing a gilling operation to debond the cut or fracture tow, straighten the turn back fibers, and randomize the same while also performing a drafting operation, and an apron drafting means for further drafting the fibers and straightening the fibers as they are removed from the gilling operation. The apron drafting means controls the fibers in such a manner that the fibers may be drafted at a higher draft than the drafting at the pin or gill drafting means with the fibers being capable of being drawn from the apron drafting means with pressure on substantially their entire length and without breaking of the fibers.

The present invention is an improvement in a textile system for drafting Webs of cut fibers to produce a homogeneous sliver having randomized fibers with little or no turnbacks. More particularly, the present invention relates to an in-line apparatus which debonds, combs and/ or drafts a web of fibers by a gilling type operation, then condenses the web and further drafts the web by an improved apron drafting means and straightens the tail end of fibers to make the same more parallel to each other thereby producing a high quality homogeneous sliver capable of being coiled or subjected to a further textile operation.

In our copending application Ser. No. 686,141, filed Nov. 28, 1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,634, issued Aug. 4, 1970, there is disclosed a system of converting continuous filament tow into sliver by subjecting the tow to a cutting operation and then debonding, srtaightening, and randomizing operations while drafting, the system utilizing an in-line series of pin or gill drafting means which progressively operate on the web of fibers, the web being condensed between the various operations. While such a system has proved immensely successful over the system known in the trade as the Pacific Converter as disclosed in U.S. Pats. 2,438,469, Mar. 23, 1948, and 2,706,834, Apr. 26, 1955, both issued to Robert C. Wilke, it has been found that the system of the present invention, when used in a Pacific Converter type of system obviates many of the difficulties encountered and produces a homogeneous sliver in increased amounts and of a higher quality.

When utilizing a pin or gill drafting apparatus for delivering the fibers to a subsequent apparatus, any crossed fibers with ends entangled around the pins were broken or snarled when drawn out of the pins. If any of the pins were bent at their sharp pointed tips, their tips, upon entering the web, tangle with the fibers and fishhooked them on leaving causing broken fibers along with nips and pinpoints. While some pin or gill drafting is necessary, the present invention avoids the aforementioned difficulties by utilizing apron drafting means for a final drafting action as well as a final straightening action,

3,609,836 Patented Oct. 5 1971 thereby producing a higher quality sliver at a more rapid rate.

Additionally, another problem involved in the use of pin or gill drafting means is that the speed of operation is limited at which the pin or faller bars can enter, transport and leave the mass of fibers without the fibers following the pins and causing more tangles and turnbacks of the number of fibers at the upper and lower sides of tlie sliver. Since it is necessary to have some pin or gill drafting, production can be increased by utilizing apron drafting means after the pin or gill drafting operation as the apron drafting means can operate on the condensed web of fibers at much higher speeds thus, for example, delivering sliver to a coiling apparatus at the coiling apparatuss maximum capacity. While a modified type of Pacific Converter such as disclosed in our aforementioned application Ser. No. 686,141 can produce a sliver of about pounds per hour when using a series of gilling stations and about pounds per hour when using a series of gilling stations having a chain head drive for the faller bars, the system of the present invention has materially increased production of the sliver to about pounds per hour by utilizing, in its final finishing operation, apron drafting means which deliver the sliver to the next textile operation such as coiling. Additionally, the sliver produced by the present invention is found to be of higher quality with less neps, pinpoints, and turnbacks and with practically no breakage. The evenness of the sliver was improved over 50%.

Although the present invention will be described in connection with a converter process, it is equally applicable to use on webs of cut fibers or on webs having blends of fibers such as wool and Dacron. It may even be used on webs of high tangle fibers such as Wool and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved textile system for debonding, straightening and drawing fibers to produce a homogeneous sliver of uniform size with the fibers therein being uniformly randomized throughout the sliver.

Ancillary to the preceding object, it is a further object of the present invention to provide an in-line apparatus including gill or pin drafting means for preliminary drafting the fibers of a web while debonding and combing the fibers into parallel relationship, then condensing the web and further drafting and straightening the fibers by utilizing apron drafting means.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apron drafting means which automatically provides for compensation in input weight changes of the web without requiring adjustment to the apron drafting means, thereby increasing the uniformity of the sliver produced with fiber breakage substantially negligible.

Ancillary to the immediately preceding object, it is a further object of the present invention to provide an apron drafting means which will improve the control on the fibers passing therethrough and which will exert a pull on the fibers for almost their entire length from between the aprons to cause a straightening and a paralleling of fibers, thus, producing a better sliver.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully in the following specification, claims and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a textile system incorporating the in-line apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary View taken substantially on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1, the view illustrating the front rolls for the aprons of the apron drafting means of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views similar to FIG. 2 but on a reduced scale and showing a modification of the front rolls for the aprons of the apron drafting means;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary diagrammatic perspective view of the apron drafting means and crimping means of the system of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating in plan the sequential textile treatment of the web in forming the sliver.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like character or reference numerals represent like or similar parts, and in particular to FIG. l, the apparatus of the present invention is disclosed in a converting system for converting continuous filament tow or the like into sliver. While the apparatus is disclosed in a converter system, it will be understood that the apparatus may be used in other textile operations such as spinning, twisting or the like, wherein a web of fibers must be first debonded, straightened, and drafted into a uniform sliver.

As shown in FIG. 1, two flat webs and 12 of continuous filament tow are fed from a creel (not shown) through respective pairs of feed-in rolls 14 and 16 to cutter means 18 and 20. The cutter means 18 and 20 each include a cutter roll having one or more steel helical lands thereon and a cooperating metal anvil roll as fully disclosed in our aforementioned application Ser. No. 686,141. The cutter means 18 and 20 are arranged with respect to each other so that the two webs 10 and 12, when superimposed on one another after cutting7 have cut lines that appear as a diamondshaped cutting pattern in plan profile. This provides for a better shingling of the fibers of the superimposed webs 1|) and 12 which will hereinafter be identified as a single web W.

The web W, which is brought together from the superimposed webs 10 and 12, is received in a stationary condensing station A to reduce the Width of the web W to a predetermined size for entering the pin or gill drafting station B. The stationary condensing station A is a metal pan 22 having a flat bottom and side walls which converge in the direction of the movement of the web W sliding therethrough, the pan 22 discharging the web into the nip area of the backdraft section C of the pin or gill station B.

The pin or gill drafting station B includes the aforementioned backdraft station C, a pin station D, and a forward draft station F. The backdraft station -C is comprised of an upper pressure roll 24 spring urged by spring means 26 toward a pair of splined or uted rolls 32 and 34 closely positioned adjacent one another and adjacent the inlet of the pin station D. The rolls 32 and 34 are provided with pinion or gear belt pulleys 33 and 35 at the ends of the same, about which gear belts 28 pass, the gear belts being further entrained about pinion or gear belt pulleys 30. Suitable means are provided to drive the pulleys 30 and to adjust the speed of the same to a desired speed relative to the speed of the pin drafting means D.

While the back drafting station C has been disclosed as utilizing a pair of positively driven iiuted rolls 32 and 34 for cooperating with the roll 24, an apron arrangement such as disclosed in our copending application Ser. No. 686,141 may be used.

The pin station D includes the usual upper and lower faller bars 36 having opposed pins for extending into the web W and then being drawn through the web W as the web is advanced therethrough, the faller bars moving in the same direction as the web but at a faster linear speed than the surface speed of the web as the web passes between the rolls 32 and 34 and the roll 24. Consequently, there is a drafting action on the fiibers as the fibers enter the pin station D, the pins of the faller bars also causing the fibers to debond where necessary, straighten, and/ or randomize. The front drafting station F of the pin or gill drafting station B includes an upper roll 38 spring urged by spring means 40 toward a pair of lower drive rolls 42 and 44. The rolls 42 and 44, which are both fluted, have a faster surface speed than the speed of the faller bars 36 so that when the forward ends of the fibers pass between the nip of the rolls 38, 42, and 44, the fibers are pulled from between the needles of the faller bars 36 to provide a second drafting action at station B and also to cause the faller bars to act now as a comb in reverse by straightening of the back end of any fibers having curlups.

The web W then enters a second condensing station G which is similar in construction to the condensing station A but further condenses the web W to a proper width for entering the apron drafting means H.

The apron drafting means H is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and includes a back draft station I, a front draft station I, and apron means K intermediate the back draft and front draft stations. The back draft station I includes an upper pressure roll 46 spring urged by spring means 48 towards a lower drive roll 50, the drive roll operating at a surface speed higher than the surface speed of the drive rolls 42 and 44. The apron means K include an upper endless apron 52 entrained about a pair of horizontally spaced spring urged back and front rolls 54 and 56, respectively, and an idler or apron tightener roll 58. A lower apron 60 is entrairled about horizontally spaced back and front drive rolls 62 and 64 as well as an apron tightener roll 66. The horizontal reaches of the aprons 52 and 60 oppose one another and have linear speed in a direction from left to right of FIG. 1 faster than the surface speed of the rolls 48 and 50 and consequently, the fibers of the web W passing through the nip of the rolls 48 and 50 is drafted therefrom as it passes into the area between the horizontal reaches of the aprons. The front draft station l of the apron drafting means H includes an upper pressure roll 68 spring urged by spring means 69 toward a drive roll 70, the drive roll 70 operating at an increased surface speed over the linear speed of the aprons so as to provide a further final drafting of the fibers of the web W. Both of the rolls 50 and 70- are iiuted or splined steel rolls whereas their cooperating pressure rolls 46 and 68 respectively, are rubber covered rolls on steel arbors. By having the rolls 68 and '70 operating at an increased speed over the linear speed of the aprons, the fibers of the web as they pass between the nip of the rolls 68 and 70 are pulled almost their entire length from between the aprons causing a final straightening and paralleling of the fibers so as to make a better sliver.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the front apron pressure roll 56 is provided with a soft rubber covering having a 25 to 35 shore hardness. The length of this roll is greater than the width of the aprons 52 and 60 so that its end portions extend beyond the edges of the aprons. The front apron drive roll 6-4 is of the same length as the roll 56, this roll being made of steel and having a. center portion undercut on its periphery as indicated at 72. The center portion 72 has an axial extent less than the width of the apron. Outwardly of the undercut portion 72 of the roll 64, intermediate portions 74 and 76 are provided which are of a greater diameter than the diameter of the center portion 72. The intermediate portions 74 and 76 define with end portions 78 and 80 oppositely disposed anges 82 and 84 spaced apart a distance equal to the width of the aprons, the flanges providing a guide for the edges of the aprons 60 and 52. The end portions of the roll 56 are each provided with a metal band 86, preferably of steel about the periphery thereof which engages the periphery of the end portions 7'8 and so that the upper apron is driven thereby.

By providing the recessed or undercut portion l2 on the roll 64 along with the intermediate portion 74 and 76, and having these cooperate with the soft rubber cover of the roll l56, a gentle pressure is provided by the upper apron 52 on the web W which causes just the right amount of friction between the fibers and the aprons as the web is being pulled or drafted by the rolls 68 and 70. Such an arrangement allows the apron drafting means H to compensate for input weight changes in the web W automatically without adjustments to the pressure rolls 54 and 56 or to the speed of the aprons. This results in the production of a sliver 50% more even than heretofore (28% versus 52% average) produced with little or no breakage of bers (comparison made with apparatus such as that disclosed in our aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 686,141).

As an alternative of the arrangement just previously described, an arrangement such as shown in FIG. 2A may be utilized as the front rolls of the upper and lower aprons. In more detail, the front roll 56 for the upper apron 52 is identical to the front roll 64 of the lower apron 60. Both rolls 56 and 64 are made of steel and provided with a center portion 72 undercut and of less axial extent than the width of the aprons. Outwardly of this portion 72 of each roll are intermediate portions 74 and 76' of greater diameter than the center portion and these intermediate portions define with the end portions 78 and 80 flanges which assist the tracking of both aprons.

When a. very light-weight sliver is being processed, good control may be maintained between the aprons 52 and 60, by utilizing two soft rubber coated front rolls 56" and 64" as shown in FIG. 2B. The rolls S6 and 64" may be provided with a metal band 86 about the periphery of the end portions thereof, the bands 86 of one roll engaging the bands 86 of the other roll to drive the same and to provide a means for making the aprons track.

While the above combination of rolls have been described for the front rolls of the upper and lower aprons, it will be appreciated that they may be utilized for the back rolls of the aprons when it is necessary to draft delicate fibers at a high rate.

After the web passes between the nip of the rolls 68 and 70, it is again condensed by a slide pan 90 which feeds the web between the nip of a pair of crimper rolls 92 and 94, respectively. The upper crimper roll 92 is spring urged toward the lower drive roll 94. The roll 94 is driven at a surface speed faster than the surface speed of the roll 70 and it pushes the fibers of the web W into a stuffing box 96 which is U-shaped in cross-section and includes a bottom wall 98, side walls 100 and 102 and a pivoted elongated tongue member .104. The tongue 104 is pivoted at its upstream end as indicated at 106 adjacent the crimper rolls I92 and 94. The downstream end of tongue member 104 is weighted as is indicated at 108 so that it bears upon the top of the web W. The tongue member 104 holds the web back in the stuffing box 96 until the same is forced out of the box by the weby entering from between the rolls 92 and 94, this action putting a short frequency crimp back into the fibers of the web thus causing the fibers in the web to adhere to one another better for the next process and handling. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the web is delivered as a sliver to a coiling head 110.

As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, a motor M through suitable transmission devices progressively drives all of the lower rolls and the Ifaller bars 36 at progressive increasing speeds throughout the apparatus from left to right. The use of the apron drafting means H enables the overall speed of operation of the system to be materially increased as the system is not limited by the maximum linear speed of faller bars at the discharge end of the same.

A source of vacuum V having suitable conduits N leading to discriminantly positioned suction head S is provided for removing the waste from the web W such as fish food or the like. This results in the sliver produce being free of waste and thus capable of use in making a high quality yarn.

The terminology used in this application is for the purpose of description and not limitation, the spirit and scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An in-line apparatus for debonding, combing and/ or drafting a web of fibers into a homogeneous sliver to be coiled comprising:

(l) pin drafting means for receiving the web of fibers and performing a gilling operation thereon;

(2) a first condensing means at the discharge end of said pin drafting means for receiving the web of fibers therefrom and condensing the width of the web;

(3) apron drafting means at the discharge end of said first condensing means for further drafting and paralleling the fibers without breaking the same, said apron drafting means having a higher draft than said pin drafting means, said apron drafting means including a back draft means at the discharge end of said first condensing means through which the web is conveyed at a predetermined linear speed faster than the linear speed of the web at the discharge end of said pin drafting means, an upper apron and a lower apron having about at least a pair of horizontally spaced rear and front rolls, said front roll for the upper apron being a soft rubber covered cot roll having a length wider than the width of the apron and said front roll for the lower apron being a steel roll having a length greater than the width of the lower apron and having a central recess about its periphery of an axial extent less than the width of said aprons, said upper and lower front rolls providing an automatic compensation for input weight changes in the web received between said aprons, said pair of aprons receiving the web from said back draft means between the reaches and conveying the same at a predetermined linear speed faster than the linear speed of the web in said back draft means, and front draft means defining a nip for receiving the web from between said aprons, said front draft means conveying the web at a faster linear speed than said pair of aprons so that fibers are pulled almost their entire length from between the aprons to straighten and parallel the same without breaking;

(4) a second condensing means at the discharge end of said apron drafting means for further condensing the width of the web of fibers; and

(5) crimping means for receiving the web of fibers from said second condensing means and delivering the fibers for coiling.

2. An in-line apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the horizontally spaced rolls for said upper apron have axes parallel to and vertically aligned with respective axes of the horizontal space rolls of said lower apron, said front roll of said upper pair of rolls and said front roll of the lower pair of rolls including means to cause said aprons to track.

3. An in-line apparatus for debonding, combing and/ or drafting a web of fibers into a homogeneous sliver to be coiled comprising:

(1) pin drafting means for receiving the web of fibers and performing a gilling operation thereon;

(2) condensing means at the discharge end of said pin drafting means for receiving the web of fibers therefrom and condensing the width of the web;

(3) apron drafting means at the discharge end of said condensing means for further drafting and paralleling the fibers without breaking the same, said apron drafting means having a higher draft than said pin drafting means, said apron drafting means including an upper apron and a lower apron having cooperating reaches, each apron being about at least a pair of horizontally spaced rear and front rolls having parallel axes with the axes of the upper and lower front rolls being vertically aligned, said front roll for the upper apron being a soft rubber covered cot roll having a length wider than the width of the upper apron and said front roll for the lower apron being a steel roll having a length greater than the width of the said lower apron, said front roll of the said lower apron having a center portion of axial extent less than the width of the lower apron, intermediate portions outwardly of the ends of the center portion, each having a diameter larger than the diameter of the center portion and end portions outwardly of the intermediate portions having a diameter larger than the intermediate portions and deiining therewith oppositely disposed anges for guiding the edges of said aprons, said outer end portions engaging the end portions of the front roll of the upper apron to drive the same;

(4) a second condensing means at the discharge end of said apron drafting means for further condensing the width of the web of b ers; and

() crimping means or receiving the web of bers from said second condensing means and delivering the fibers for coiling.

4. An in-line apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which the front roll of said upper pair of rolls is provided with metal bands about the periphery of each of its end portions for contacting the end portions of the front roll of the lower pair of rolls.

5. An in-line apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which said crimping means includes a pair of crimper rolls dening a nip between the same receiving the web from said second condensing means, said crimper rolls conveying the web at linear speed faster than the front draft means of said apron drafter, and a stuffing box for receiving the web from said crimping rolls and discharging the same in a short frequency crimp condition for coiling, said stuffing box discharging the web by force of the same entering the stuing box from said crimper rolls.

6. An in-line apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which said stuffing box includes a U-shaped channel member having side walls and a bottom wall and being opened at both ends, and an elongated tongue pivoted to the side walls at the upstream end thereof and having its free end bearing upon the web at the downstream end, said tongue being weighted at its downstream end.

7. An in-line aparatus for debonding, combing and/ or drafting a web of fibers into a homogeneous sliver to be coiled comprising:

(l) pin drafting means for receiving the web of fibers and performing a gilling operation thereon;

(2) condensing means at the discharge end of said pin drafting means for receiving the web of fibers therefrom and condensing the width of the web;

(3) apron drafting means at the discharge end of said condensing means for further drafting and paralleling the fibers without breaking the same, said apron drafting means having a higher draft than said pin drafting means, said apron drafting means including an upper apron and a lower apron having cooperating reaches, each apron being about at least a pair of horizontally spaced rear and front rolls having parallel axes, said front roll for the lower apron having axes vertically aligned and said rear roll for the upper apron and said rear roll for the lower apron having axes vertically aligned, said front rolls for both the upper and lower aprons being soft rubber covered cot rolls having a length wider than the width of the apron, each of the front rolls being provided with metal bands on the periphery of the end portions for contacting the end portions of the cooperating roll to drive the same and for causing the aprons to track;

(4) a second condensing means at the discharge end of said apron drafting means for further condensing the width of the web of bers', and

(5) crimping means for receiving the web of lfibers from said second condensing means and delivering the fibers for coiling.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,410,020 10/ 1946 De Lathauwer 19--243 2,553,456 5/1951 Howell 19153 2,567,467 9/ 1951 Berker 19-'129 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,428,574 l/ 1966 France 19-248 640,454 7/ 1950 Great Britain 19-260 678,288 9/ 1952 Great Britain 19-257 945,436 12/1963 Great Britain 19--244 1,077,929 8/1964 Great Britain 19-247 DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. l9-.6, 236, 246 

